1 Corinthians 15:45

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(45) And so it is written.—Better, And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul: the last Adam became a quickening spirit. The quotation which follows here is from Genesis 2:7, and it is the latter part of that verse which is quoted. The Rabbinical explanation of that passage was—that God breathed into man the breath of life originally, but that man became (not “was made”) only a living soul, i.e., one in whom the mere human faculties held sway, and not the spirit. He became this lower thing by his own act of disobedience. Here, then, St. Paul, contrasts the two Adams—the first man and Christ—from whom we derive our natural and our spiritual natures, and our natural and spiritual bodies. The first Adam became, by his disobedience, a mere living soul, and from him we inherit that nature; the second Adam, by his obedience, became a life-giving spirit, and from Him we inherit the spiritual nature in us. The same verb which is expressed in the first clause must be understood in the second clause. The same thought is expressed in Romans 5:19.

Benson Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:45-46. And so it is written — With respect to the animal body, Genesis 2:7. The first Adam was made a living soul — God gave him animal life, in many respects resembling that of other animals; the last Adam was made — Rather was, or is, for there is nothing in the original for made; a quickening Spirit — Having life in himself, and quickening whom he will: imparting even a more refined life to men’s bodies at the resurrection, than that which they formerly possessed. Christ is called Adam, because believers receive their sanctified, spiritual nature, and their immortal bodies, from him, (see Ephesians 5:32,) just as mankind have derived their corrupted nature and mortal bodies from the first Adam. He is also called the last Adam, because he is posterior in time to the first Adam, or because there shall be no restorer and head of the human race after him. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, &c. — That is, as the first Adam existed before Christ was sent to assume our nature, and become our Saviour, so must we first wear that animal body, which we derive from the one, before we put on that spiritual body which we receive from the other. Here we are taught that the plan of the divine government is to lead his creatures from a lower to a higher state of perfection. They, therefore, who contend that things should be as perfect at the beginning as at the conclusion of his administration, are wiser than God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:35-50 1. How are the dead raised up? that is, by what means? How can they be raised? 2. As to the bodies which shall rise. Will it be with the like shape, and form, and stature, and members, and qualities? The former objection is that of those who opposed the doctrine, the latter of curious doubters. To the first the answer is, This was to be brought about by Divine power; that power which all may see does somewhat like it, year after year, in the death and revival of the corn. It is foolish to question the Almighty power of God to raise the dead, when we see it every day quickening and reviving things that are dead. To the second inquiry; The grain undergoes a great change; and so will the dead, when they rise and live again. The seed dies, though a part of it springs into new life, though how it is we cannot fully understand. The works of creation and providence daily teach us to be humble, as well as to admire the Creator's wisdom and goodness. There is a great variety among other bodies, as there is among plants. There is a variety of glory among heavenly bodies. The bodies of the dead, when they rise, will be fitted for the heavenly bodies. The bodies of the dead, when they rise, will be fitted for the heavenly state; and there will be a variety of glories among them. Burying the dead, is like committing seed to the earth, that it may spring out of it again. Nothing is more loathsome than a dead body. But believers shall at the resurrection have bodies, made fit to be for ever united with spirits made perfect. To God all things are possible. He is the Author and Source of spiritual life and holiness, unto all his people, by the supply of his Holy Spirit to the soul; and he will also quicken and change the body by his Spirit. The dead in Christ shall not only rise, but shall rise thus gloriously changed. The bodies of the saints, when they rise again, will be changed. They will be then glorious and spiritual bodies, fitted to the heavenly world and state, where they are ever afterwards to dwell. The human body in its present form, and with its wants and weaknesses, cannot enter or enjoy the kingdom of God. Then let us not sow to the flesh, of which we can only reap corruption. And the body follows the state of the soul. He, therefore, who neglects the life of the soul, casts away his present good; he who refuses to live to God, squanders all he has.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And so it is written, - Genesis 2:7. It is only the first part of the verse which is quoted.

The first man Adam was made a living soul - This is quoted exactly from the translation by the Septuagint, except that the apostle has added the words "first" and "Adam." This is done to designate whom he meant. The meaning of the phrase "was made a living soul" (ἐγένετο εις ψυκὴν ζωσαν egeneto eis psuchēn zōsan - in Hebrew, נפשׁ חיה nephesh chayaah is, became a living, animated being; a being endowed with life. The use of the word "soul" in our translation, for ψυχὴ psuchē, and נפשׁ nephesh, does not quite convey the idea. We apply the word "soul," usually, to the intelligent and the immortal part of man; that which reasons, thinks, remembers, is conscious, is responsible, etc. The Greek and Hebrew words, however, more properly denote that which is alive, which is animated, which breathes, which has an animal nature, see the note on 1 Corinthians 15:44. And this is precisely the idea which Paul uses here, that the first man was made an animated being by having breathed into him the breath of life Genesis 2:7, and that it is the image of this animated or vital being which we bear, 1 Corinthians 15:48. Neither Moses nor Paul deny that in addition to this, man was endowed with a rational soul, an immortal nature; but that is not the idea which they present in the passage in Genesis which Paul quotes.

The last Adam - The second Adam, or the "second man," 1 Corinthians 15:47. That Christ is here intended is apparent, and has been usually admitted by commentators. Christ here seems to be called Adam because he stands in contradistinction from the first Adam; or because, as we derive our animal and dying nature from the one, so we derive our immortal and undying bodies from the other. From the one we derive an animal or vital existence; from the other we derive our immortal existence, and resurrection from the grave. The one stands at the head of all those who have an existence represented by the words, "a living soul;" the other of all those who shall have a spiritual body in heaven. He is called "the last Adam;" meaning that there shall be no other after him who shall affect the destiny of man in the same way, or who shall stand at the head of the race in a manner similar to what had been done by him and the first father of the human family. They sustain special relations to the race; and in this respect they were "the first" and "the last" in the special economy. The name "Adam" is not elsewhere given to the Messiah, though a comparison is several times instituted between him and Adam. (See the Supplementary Note on 1 Corinthians 15:22; also Romans 5:12, note.)

A quickening spirit - (εἰς πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν eis pneuma zōopoioun. A vivifying spirit; a spirit giving or imparting life. Not a being having mere vital functions, or an animated nature, but a being who has the power of imparting life. This is not a quotation from any part of the Scriptures, but seems to be used by Paul either as affirming what was true on his own apostolic authority, or as conveying the substance of what was revealed respecting the Messiah in the Old Testament. There may be also reference to what the Saviour himself taught, that he was the source of life; that he had the power of imparting life, and that he gave life to all whom he pleased: see the note at John 1:4; note at John 5:26, "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." 1 Corinthians 15:21, "for as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will."

The word "spirit," here applied to Christ, is in contradistinction from "a living being," as applied to Adam, and seems to be used in the sense of spirit of life, as raising the bodies of his people from the dead, and imparting life to them. He was constituted not as having life merely, but as endowed with the power of imparting life; as endowed with that spiritual or vital energy which was needful to impart life. All life is the creation or production of "spirit" (Πνεῦμα Pneuma); as applied to God the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Spirit is the source of all vitality. God is a spirit, and God is the source of all life. And the idea here is, that Christ had such a spiritual existence such power as a spirit; that he was the source of all life to his people. The word "spirit" is applied to his exalted spiritual nature, in distinction from his human nature, in Romans 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18. The apostle does not here affirm that he had not a human nature, or a vital existence as a man; but that his main characteristic in contradistinction from Adam was, that he was endowed with an elevated spiritual nature, which was capable of imparting vital existence to the dead.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

45. so—in accordance with the distinction just mentioned between the natural or animal-souled body and the spiritual body.

it is written—(Ge 2:7); "Man became (was made to become) a living soul," that is, endowed with an animal soul, the living principle of his body.

the last Adam—the LAST Head of humanity, who is to be fully manifested in the last day, which is His day (Joh 6:39). He is so called in Job 19:25; see on [2295]Job 19:25 (compare Ro 5:14). In contrast to "the last," Paul calls "man" (Ge 2:7) "the FIRST Adam."

quickening—not only living, but making alive (Joh 5:21; 6:33, 39, 40, 54, 57, 62, 63; Ro 8:11). As the natural or animal-souled body (1Co 15:44) is the fruit of our union with the first Adam, an animal-souled man, so the spiritual body is the fruit of our union with the second Adam, who is the quickening Spirit (2Co 3:17). As He became representative of the whole of humanity in His union of the two natures, He exhausted in His own person the sentence of death passed on all men, and giveth spiritual and everlasting life to whom He will.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The first part is written in Genesis 2:7, God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and so he became a living soul; that is, a living substance, living an animal, natural life, by virtue of that breath of life which God breathed into him.

The last Adam, by which he meaneth Christ, who in time was after the first Adam, and was born in the last days, and was the last common Head; as Adam was the first, with respect of natural and carnal propagation, so Christ was the last Head, in respect of grace and spiritual regeneration, he

was made a quickening spirit: He was made so, not when he was conceived and born, for he had a body subject to the same natural infirmities that ours are; but upon his resurrection from the dead, when, though he had the same body, in respect of the substance of it, yet it differed in qualities, and was much more spiritual; with which body he ascended up into heaven, clothed with a power, as to quicken souls with a spiritual life, so also to quicken our mortal bodies at his second coming, when he shall raise the dead out of their graves.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And so it is written,.... In Genesis 2:7

the first man Adam was made a living soul: in the Hebrew text it is, man, or Adam, became, or was made a living soul; that is, as the apostle says, "the first man Adam": he calls him, as the Jews (a) frequently do, , "the first man"; he was the first man that was made, and the first parent of mankind, and the head and representative of all his posterity, and so the first in time, causality and dignity; whose name was Adam, so called by God in the day he was created, because he was formed , "from the ground, or earth"; when God breathed life into the earthly mass, or lump; and being animated with a rational soul, it became an animal body, or a living creature; and so the apostle proves, from the first man that was upon earth, that there is a natural, or animal body; a body animated by a soul, and which was supported by eating and drinking, by sleep and rest; and was capable of dying, and should die, in case of sin; and which was the state of it in its first creation, whilst in innocence, and before the fall; and this is all he meant to prove by this Scripture; for what follows is not mentioned as therein written, or elsewhere, but as the apostle's own assertion:

the last Adam was made a quickening spirit: by "the last Adam" is meant Jesus Christ, called Adam, because he is really and truly a man, a partaker of the same flesh and blood as the rest of mankind; and because he is the antitype of the first man Adam, who was a figure of him that was to come; and therefore called Adam, for the same reason as he is called David and Solomon: he is said to be "the last", in distinction from the first Adam, with respect to him he stood, last upon the earth, as in Job 19:25 to which passage some think the apostle here alludes; and because he appeared in the last days in the end of the world, and is the last that shall rise up as a common head and representative of the whole, or any part of mankind: now he is made "a quickening spirit"; which some understand of the Holy Spirit, which filled the human nature of Christ, raised him from the dead, and will quicken our mortal bodies at the last day; others of the divine nature of Christ, to which his flesh, or human nature, was united; and which gave life, rigour, and virtue, to all his actions and sufferings, as man; and by which he was quickened, when put to death in the flesh, and by which he will quicken others another day: though rather I think it is to be understood of his spiritual body, of his body, not as it was made of the virgin, for that was a natural, or an animal one; it was conceived and bred, and born as animal bodies are; it grew and increased, and was nourished with meat and drink, and sleep and rest; and was subject to infirmities, and to death itself, as our bodies be; but it is to be understood of it as raised from the dead, when it was made a spiritual body, for which reason it is called a "spirit": not that it was changed into a spirit, for it still remained flesh and blood; but because it was no more supported in an animal way; nor subject to those weaknesses that animal bodies are, but lives as spirits, or angels do; and a quickening one, not only because it has life itself, but because by virtue of the saints' union to it, as it subsists in the divine person of the Son of God, their bodies will be quickened at the last day, and made like unto it, spiritual bodies; also because he lives in his body as a spiritual one, they shall live in theirs as spiritual ones: and so the apostle shows, that there is a spiritual, as well as an animal body; that as the first man's body, even before the fall, was an animal or natural one; the last Adam's body upon his resurrection is a spiritual and life giving one, as the Syriac version renders it; so the Cabalistic writers (b) speak of

"Adam; who is the holy and supreme, who rules over all, and gives spirit and life to all.''

(a) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol 38. 2. & 100. 1. & alibi passim. & , Cabala denud. par. 4. p. 195, &c. Vid. 2 Esdras iii. 21. (b) Zohar in Exod. fol. 59. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

{25} And so it is written, The {x} first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a {y} quickening spirit.

(25) That is called a natural body which is made alive and maintained by a living soul only in the manner that Adam was, of whom we are all born naturally. And that is said to be a spiritual body, which together with the soul is made alive with a far more excellent power, that is, with the Spirit of God, who descends from Christ the second Adam to us.

(x) Adam is called the first man, because he is the root as it were from which we spring. And Christ is the latter man, because he is the beginning of all those that are spiritual, and in him we are all included.

(y) Christ is called a Spirit, by reason of that most excellent nature, that is to say, God who dwells in him bodily, as Adam is called a living soul, by reason of the soul which is the best part in him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:45. Scriptural confirmation for the εἰ ἔστι σῶμα ψ. κ.τ.λ.

οὕτω] so, i.e. in this sense, corresponding to what has been said above, it stands written also, etc. The passage is from Genesis 2:7 according to the LXX. (κ. ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρ. εἰς ψ. ζ.), but with the addition of the more precisely explanatory words πρῶτος and Ἀδάμ. The citation extends only to ζῶσαν; the ὁ ἔσχατος κ.τ.λ. that follow are words of the apostle, in which he gives an explanation of his οὕτω by calling attention, namely, to the opposite nature of the last Adam, as that to which the Scripture likewise pointed by its description of the first Adam, in virtue of the typical relation of Adam to Christ. He joins on these words of his own, however, immediately to the passage of Scripture, in order to indicate that the ὁ ἔσχατος … ζωοποιοῦν follows as necessarily from it according to its typical reference, as if the words had been expressed along with it.[80] He thus gives expression to the inference which is tacitly contained in the statement, by adding forthwith this self-evident conclusion as if belonging also to the passage of Scripture, because posited for it by the inner necessity of the antithesis. When others, such as Billroth and Rückert, assume that ὁ ἔσχατος κ.τ.λ. is meant really to be a part of the Scripture-quotation, they in that case charge the apostle with having made the half of the citation himself and given it out as being Bible words; but assuredly no instance is to be found of such an arbitrary procedure, however freely he handles passages from the Old Testament elsewhere. And would the readers, seeing that ἐγένετο … ζῶσαν is such a universally known statement, have been able to recognise in ὁ ἔσχατος κ.τ.λ. Bible words? According to Hofmann, οὕτω καὶ γέγρ. is a completed sentence, which only states that the distinction between two kinds of human body is scriptural. In order to demonstrate this scripturalness the apostle then applies the passage Genesis 2:7. But against this it may be urged, first, that Paul is wont in general to use the γέγραπται for citing passages of Scripture; secondly, that the reader could all the less think here of another use of the word, since in reality at the moment a passage of Scripture, and that a universally familiar one, is joined on directly and without a particle (such as γάρ) to lead the thoughts aright in another directio.

ἐγένετο] by his creation, by means of the animation through God’s breat.

εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν] לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָה comp. Genesis 1:30, unto a living soul-nature, so that thus the body of Adam must be formed as the receptacle and organ of the ψυχή, must be a σῶμα ψυχικόν.[81] Therewith sin itself is not assumed as yet, nor even the necessity of its future entrance (comp. Ernesti, Urspr. d. Sünde, I. p. 133), but the susceptibility for it, which, however, did not fall within the scope of the apostle her.

ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδάμ is Christ. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:14; Neve Schalom, 1 Corinthians 9:9 : “Adamus postremus (האחרון) est Messias.” He is called, however, and is the last Adam in reference to the first Adam, whose antitype He is as the head and the beginner of the new humanity justified and redeemed through Him; but at the same time in reference also to the fact, that after Him no other is to follow with an Adamite vocation. Apart from this latter reference, He may be called also the second Adam. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:47.

ΕἸς ΠΝΕῦΜΑ ΖΩΟΠΟΙ.] unto a life-giving spirit-being, sc. ἐγένετο. It is thereby expressed that the body of Christ became a σῶμα πνευματικόν. But what is the point of time, at which Christ ΕἸς ΠΝΕῦΜΑ ΖΩΟΠ. ἘΓΈΝΕΤΟ? Not as a created being, as one of the heavenly forms in the divine retinue before His mission (Holsten), nor yet in His incarnation,[82] whether we may supply mentally a Deitate (Beza, comp. too Räbiger, Christol. Paul. p. 35; Baur, Delitzsch, al.), or take refuge in the communicatio hypostatica (Calovius and others); for during his earthly life Christ had a ψυχικὸν σῶμα (only without sin, Romans 8:3), which ate, drank, slept, consisted of flesh and blood, suffered, died, etc. The one correct answer in accordance with the context, since the point in hand has regard to the resurrection (and see especially 1 Corinthians 15:44), can only be: after His death (comp. Hellwag in the Tübing. theol. Jahrb. 1848, 2, p. 240; Ernesti, Urspr. d. Sünde, II. p. 122 ff.; Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 314), and indeed through His resurrection, Christ became εἰς πνεῦμα ζωοπ. The body, doubtless, of the Risen One before His ascension (hence the Socinians think here of the latter event; so, too, J. Müller and Maier) consisted still of flesh and blood, still ate, drank, etc.; but it was immortal, and so changed (see Remark appended to Luke 24:51) that it already appears as ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙΚΌΝ, although it was only at the ascension that it entered upon its completion in that respect, and consequently into its ΔΌΞΑ as the ΣῶΜΑ Τῆς ΔΌΞΗς (Php 3:21). The event producing the change, therefore, is the resurrection; in virtue of this, the last Adam, who shall appear only at the Parousia in the whole efficiency of His life-power (1 Corinthians 15:47), became (ἐγένετο) ΕἸς ΠΝΕῦΜΑ ΖΩΟΠΟΙΟῦΝ,[83] and that through God, who raised Him u.

ζωοποιοῦν] οὐκ εἶπεν· εἰς πνεῦμα ζῶν, ἀλλὰ ζωοποιοῦν τὸ μεῖζον εἰπών, Theophylact. The connection shows what ζωή is meant in ΖΩΟΠΟΙΟῦΝ, namely, the resurrection-life, which Christ, who has become πνεῦμα ζωοπ., works at His Parousia. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:22; Php 3:21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 5:21 ff. This limitation of the reference of ΖΩΟΠΟΙΟῦΝ, made in accordance with the context, shows that we have not here an argument proving too much (in opposition to Baur, neut. Theol. p. 197).

[80] To make the relation of the two halves discernible in reading, let ἑγένετο … ζῶσαν be read slowly and loud, pause markedly at ζῶσαν, and let then ὁ ἕσχατος κ.τ.λ. follow a little less slowly and loudly.

[81] Not as if he had lacked the higher life-principle (the πνεῦμα); but the ψυχή was that which determined the nature of the body.

[82] So, too, Sellin in the Luther. Zeitschr. 1867, p. 231.

[83] There exists no ground for assuming a different conception of the corporeity of the risen Christ before His resurrection on the part of Paul than on the part of the evangelists. It is true that Paul mentions the appearances of the Risen One, ver. 5 ff., in such a way that he speaks of the appearance after the ascension, ver. 8, no otherwise than of those which preceded it. But he had there no ground for drawing any such distinction, since it only concerned him generally to enumerate the appearances of the Risen One, while for his purpose it was all the same which of them had taken place before and which after the ascension.

Expositor's Greek Testament

1 Corinthians 15:45 puts into words of Scripture the law of development affirmed, thereby showing its agreement with the plan of creation and its realisation in the two successive heads of the race. Into his citation of Genesis 2:7 (LXX) P. introduces πρῶτος and duplicates ἄνθρωπος by Ἀδάμ (ha’adâm), to prepare for his antithetical addition ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδὰμ εἰς πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν. On the principle of 1 Corinthians 15:44 b, the Adam created as ψυχὴ was the crude beginning of humanity (the pred. ψυχὴ ζῶσα is shared by A. with the animals, Genesis 1:20; Genesis 1:24)—a “first” requiring a “last” as his complement and explanation. The two types differ here not as the sin-committing and sin-abolishing (Romans 5:12 ff.), but as the rudimentary and finished man respectively, with their physique to match.—Αδὰμ is repeated in the second clause by way of maintaining the humanity of Christ and His genetic relation to the protoplast (cf. Luke 1:23-38), essential as the ground of our bodily relationship to Him (1 Corinthians 15:48 f.; cf. Hebrews 2:14 ff.).—The time of Christ’s γενέσθαι εἰς πν. ζωοπ., in view of the context and esp. of 1 Corinthians 15:42 ff., can only be His resurrection from the grave (Est., Gr[2544], Mr[2545], Hn[2546], Hf[2547], El[2548]), which supplies the hinge of Paul’s whole argument (cf. Romans 1:4; Romans 6:4 ff; Romans 10:9, etc.); not the incarnation (Thp[2549], Bz[2550], Baur, Ed[2551]), for His pre-resurrection body was a σῶμα ψυχικόν (Romans 8:3, etc.; 2 Corinthians 13:4, Php 2:7, etc.). By rising from the dead, Christ ἐγενήθη εἰς πνεῦμα—He entered on the spiritual and ultimate form of human existence; and at the same time, ἐγενήθη εἰς πν. ζωοποιοῦν—He entered this state so as to communicate it to His fellows: cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, Colossians 1:18, Revelation 1:5; also Romans 8:10 f., 2 Corinthians 4:14; John 6:33; John 11:25; John 14:19, etc. The action of Jesus in “breathing” upon His disciples while He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22 f.), symbolised the vitalising relationship which at this epoch He assumed towards mankind; this act raised to a higher potency the original “breathing” of God by which man “became a living soul”. “Spirit is life-power, having the ground of its vitality in itself, while the soul has only a subject and conditioned life; spirit vitalises that which is outside of itself, soul leads its individual life within the sphere marked out by its environment” (Hf[2552]); cf. John 3:34; John 4:14; John 5:25 f.; Hebrews 7:25.—ὁ ἔσχατος ἄνθρωπος recalls the Rabbinical title, ha’adâm ha’acharôn, given to the Messiah (Neve Shalom, ix. 9): Christ is not, however, the later or second, but the last, the final Adam. The two Adams of Philo, based on the duplicate narrative of Genesis 1, 2—the ideal “man after the image of God” and the actual “man of the dust of the earth”—with which Pfleiderer and others identify Paul’s πρῶτος and ἔσχατος, χοϊκὸς and ἐπουράνιος Ἀδάμ, are not to be found here. For (a) Philo’s first is Paul’s last; (b) both Paul’s Adams are equally concrete; (c) the resurrection of Christ distinguishes their respective periods, a crisis the conception of which is foreign to Philo’s theology; (d) moreover, Genesis 1:26 is referred in 1 Corinthians 11:7 above to the historical, not the ideal, First Man.

[2544] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[2545] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[2546] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[2547] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht, ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

[2548] C. J. Ellicott’s St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians.

[2549] Theophylact, Greek Commentator.

[2550] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

[2551] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians.2

[2552] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht, ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

45. And so it is written] In Genesis 2:7. This applies only to the first part of the verse. But did not St Paul know that the words had been uttered, and would one day be recorded, which make it true also of the second part? See St John 5:21; John 6:33; John 6:39-40; John 6:54; John 6:57; John 11:25.

The first man Adam was made a living soul] Rather, became a living soul. The word here translated soul, the adjective formed from which is rendered by the word natural in the last and in the next verse, is translated indifferently by life and soul in the N. T. As instances of the former see St Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; of the latter, St Matthew 10:28; Matthew 16:26. We must not press this so far as to say that before Christ came man had no πνεῦμα or spiritual nature (though the Hebrew word corresponding to πνεῦμα is noticeably absent in Genesis 2:7), but we are justified in saying that until Christ recreated and redeemed humanity the higher nature existed only in a rudimentary state, in the form of an aspiration after higher things, and that it was overborne and subjected by the lower, or animal nature. “Adam was therefore a ‘living soul,’ that is, a natural man—a man with intelligence, perception and a moral sense, with power to form a society and to subdue nature to himself.” Robertson.

the last Adam] So called because Christ was a new starting-point of humanity. Thus to be in Christ is called a ‘new creation,’ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (cf. Galatians 6:15). He is called the ‘new man,’ created after God in righteousness and holiness,’ Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10, Whom we are to ‘put on,’ Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27. “For being from above and from heaven, and God by nature and Emmanuel, and having received our likeness, and become a second Adam, how shall He not richly make them partakers of His Own Life, who desire to partake of the intimate union effected with Him by faith? For by the mystic blessing we have become embodied into Him, for we have been made partakers of Him by the Spirit.” Cyril of Alexandria.

a quickening spirit] See texts quoted under ‘it is written,’ and last note; also Romans 6:11 (Greek); 2 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:4. “He does not call the second Adam a ‘living spirit,’ but a life-giving one; for He ministers the eternal life to all.” Theodoret. The word ‘quickening’ means that which gives life, as we speak of the “quick and the dead” in the Creed. The idea of activity to which the word quick and its derivatives is now confined, comes from its original idea of life. We use the word lively in a similar manner. The word is really kindred to the Latin vivus and the French vie.

Bengel's Gnomen

1 Corinthians 15:45. Γέγραπται, it is written) Genesis 2:7, LXX., ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν, man became a living soul. Paul adds other things in accordance with the nature of the contraries [the things antithetical to the former.]—πρῶτος) that is, the FIRST; for the last is in antithesis to it; but in 1 Corinthians 15:47, πρῶτος means the former of the two; for it is in antithesis to δεύτερος, the second: and each is there considered, as a model of the rest. ὁ ἔσχατος, the last, in like manner as ὁ δεύτερος, the second, points to Christ, not to the whole human race in its perfect consummation.—Ἀδὰμ) A proper name here; but it is presently after repeated by antonomasia.[143]—ψυχὴν, life—soul) Hence ψυχικὸν living, animal, [natural] 1 Corinthians 15:44.—ὁ ἔσχατος, the last) Job 19:25. אחרון, the same as he who is called נאל, as is evident there from the parallelism of the double predicate. Christ is last; the day of Christ is the last day, John 6:39. [Christ is a Spirit, 2 Corinthians 3:17.—V. g.]—ζωοποιοῦν, quickening) He not only lives, but also makes alive.

[143] Append. The substitution of a proper name for a common name, or vice versa.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 45. - The first man Adam was made a living soul (Genesis 2:7). The last Adam. A rabbinic expression also for the Messiah. A quickening Spirit. "The Son quickeneth whom he will" (John 5:21; comp. 6:23). The best comment on the expression will be found in Romans 8:2, 11. Christ is "a quickening," i.e. a life giving, "Spirit," here mainly in the sense that we shall only be raised by "the power of his resurrection" (John 5:24, 25), but also in the sense that his Spirit dwelleth in us, and is our true Life. 1 Corinthians 15:45

Vincent's Word Studies

A living soul (ψυχὴν ζῶσαν)

See Genesis 2:7. Here ψυχή passes into its personal sense - an individual personality (see Romans 11:4), yet retaining the emphatic reference to the ψυχή as the distinctive principle of that individuality in contrast with the πνεῦμα spirit following. Hence this fact illustrates the general statement there is a natural body: such was Adam's, the receptacle and organ of the ψυχή soul.

Last Adam

Christ. Put over against Adam because of the peculiar relation in which both stand to the race: Adam as the physical, Christ as the spiritual head. Adam the head of the race in its sin, Christ in its redemption. Compare Romans 5:14.

Quickening spirit (πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν)

Rev., life-giving. Not merely living, but imparting life. Compare John 1:4; John 3:36; John 5:26, John 5:40; John 6:33, John 6:35; John 10:10; John 11:25; John 14:6. The period at which Christ became a quickening Spirit is the resurrection, after which His body began to take on the characteristics of a spiritual body. See Romans 6:4; 1 Peter 1:21.